France and Austria are fighting in northern Italy!

However, this was not the cause of Alexander's insomnia, he could not sleep because of the information that Tiego had sent him from Portugal.

Vasco da Gama had returned to Portugal and the agreement with him had come into effect, a secret agreement signed in a Portuguese notary office, under which Alexander's trade alliance would for the next 30 years gain exclusive access to the new Eastern route that da Gama had already established, meaning that he would have the right to wage war against any other person or country that tried to get his hands on it.

This could include Spain, but also England and the Lowlands.

There is no eternal friendship between people, and even more so between countries, where countries that used to be like brothers, or simply a country that was connected by blood, can have a life-and-death war, not to mention that there are too many precedents for countries linked by interests, and by interests and interests.

However, these were not the root causes of Alexander's tossing and turning and unable to sleep, and the biggest reason why he could not fall asleep on this autumn night was Ferdinand of Aragon.

To Alexander's surprise, Ferdinand had not been in a hurry to send troops to Naples before, he seemed to be waiting for something, and now Alexander knew that he was just as much waiting for a war between France and Austria as he was.

It's just that despite knowing this, Alexander still can't help but help Maximian in secret.

If Austria was unable to contain the French in the north, Louis XII would have enough troops to move to southern Italy, which could be an additional bargaining chip for Naples with the Aragonese army in the future, but it would be disadvantageous in the long run.

Alexander had decided to find an opportunity to infiltrate Castile, which meant that he would stir up a storm in Spain, and whatever the outcome of his doing so, it would certainly have an impact on Aragorn's rule in Naples, so that they would not be able to occupy it smoothly, and if Louis XII could move a large number of troops to the south because of Maximian's inability to resist the French, it would be possible to help the French gain a foothold in Naples.

This is something that Alexander never wanted.

A situation in which neither of the French nor the Aragonese can help the other is the best, and for this reason he has exchanged frequent letters between Normezi and Charlon during this period, and he believes that Charlon's mind will not fail to think of his purpose, but from the present situation, it is clear that the French also do not want to completely break with Billy Shelly at this time.

Naples was facing a delicate situation, which would become even more complicated and volatile when the Aragonese army arrived.

There was a sound of footsteps, and Alexander turned his head a little to see Josha walking barefoot towards him.

The moonlight spread on her blond hair, making her look like an elf walking slowly from a misty forest.

Jisha walked to the window and stood side by side with Alexander, her tall figure made it possible for the two of them to stand together without raising or bowing their heads, as long as they twisted their necks slightly, they could see the sparkle in each other's eyes.

In the middle of the night, the moonlit night in the mountains of Billy Shelly is peaceful, and apart from the occasional chirping of nightingales, everything is as calm as the water.

"Brother, how long has it been since we've enjoyed this peace?" As she spoke, she looked at Alexander and said calmly, "I remember the last time I was so leisurely at Agri's farmstead, and during that time we didn't even think about anything, but stayed in the cellar and barn, and you were even glad to find a few more jars of honey in storage. ”

"Yes, but now I would not be too happy if someone reported to me that it was agreed to allow the local circulation of Ladia coins with Florin," Alexander said, shaking his head, "Of course, I would be glad that Radia could take over the whole of France or the market in Aragon." ”

Jossa noticed Alexander's slightly mocking expression, which confused her a little.

Josa thought she knew Alexander best, but even now she felt more and more that she couldn't keep up with Alexander.

Expedition to the Balkans, layout of Italy, attention to Portugal, and now all kinds of preparations for Castile and Aragon, Jossa leaned slightly on the window lattice, elbows supported the window sill and looked at Alexander without blinking: "Tell me how ambitious you are, how big the world you want." ”

"My ambition, oh, is actually small," Alexander said, raising his hand and pinching a small piece of his thumb and forefinger to show him, "you should ask how big the world you will get, and don't forget to promise that you will get something much bigger and more novel than you ever imagined." ”

Jisha smiled silently, in fact, she didn't feel that she needed those things, but seeing Alexander like this, she couldn't help but be a little fascinated.

"The outside world is very big, Jisha, much bigger than we know now, don't you want to know what is on the other side of the sea, don't you want to know what kind of land and what kind of people are there, and it is because of this that I have brought Tiego attention to those explorers, who will bring us back not only wealth, but also knowledge of the world, believe me Jisha you will soon know what kind of magical world we will face in the future compared to Europe like today."

Jossa didn't know what the New World was like right away, but another piece of bad news, albeit a little late, made its way to Billy Silly, where Count Mordilo had been arrested in Sicily.

When she heard of this surprise, she stood up from her throne in excitement, and under the equally surprised and inexplicable gaze of the courtiers, she rushed to the merchant who brought the bad news, and asked loudly with anxiety and anger in her eyes: "Who is it, what is going on, why was my uncle arrested by the Sicilians?" ”

The merchant looked at the queen with some confusion because of anger and anxiety, he wanted to bow but was grabbed by the arm by the hand, and under a burst of urging the merchant had to say something he knew he always heard: "That's your majesty, the count seems to have been taken from the house of the consul Camus of the noble order, I don't know the exact reason, but it is said that the count is accused of being a participant in the Sicilian bloody night incident that broke out a few years ago, You know that Sicily is now ruled by the Doge of Flomensa, who was a very cruel man, and I know this when I heard that the Count was imprisoned in the dungeons of the Doge's Palace......"

"Oh, my poor uncle!" "They've locked him up, he's not going to be tortured at his age." War, I'm going to start a war against Sicily! Where is my brother, I want him to send troops at once to save the Count, my poor Uncle Modillo. ”

The cries echoed through the hall, and the courtiers looked at each other, not knowing how to dissuade the queen.

The importance of the Count of Mordillo to the Queen, or to the court of Billy Silly in exile, is undoubted, although many people can't help but choose to remain silent after hearing that the Count was captured by the Governor of Sicily, Flomenza, and some people have begun to think about the possibility that with the Earl's absence, there may be a new change of power in the small court of Billy Silly, but seeing the Queen's rare hysteria because of anger and sadness, everyone still realized the seriousness of the matter.

Just a declaration of war on Sicily?

This idea was clearly unrealistic in the eyes of the courtiers.

Not to mention that Billy Silly didn't have the capital to compete with a kingdom as large as Sicily, even if they could find a way to organize an army, they still counted on reinforcements from Aragon.

The Neapolitans, who did not know Ferdinand's ambitions, still pinned their hopes on the brothers of the two Sicilies in the same lineage, and at this time, not to mention the arrest of Count Modiglo, even if the queen was treated unfairly, these courtiers would try to dissuade the queen from tolerating the country.

She took advantage of her own emotions and could not control herself to simply run away from the council, and after hearing that Alexander was summoning some of the squires from the territory from Agri, she broke directly into Alexander's room, and unceremoniously drove out the squires who were reporting this year's harvest to the lord and the queen who had rushed in in a hurry.

"I'm going to start a war." "I'm going to get Uncle Modillo out, he must be suffering in a Sicilian dungeon." ”

Alexander didn't speak immediately, the quill in his hand lightly touched the paper, the tip of the pen dotting ink marks on the slightly yellowed paper.

After a while, he asked, "You're decided?" ”

"It's decided." "I have to do this, and you have to do it, this is what we owe him." ”

Alexander nodded silently and slowly stood up, then his eyes looked at the wide open door, raised his voice and said outside: "Xer~"

"My lord, I'm here."

The Balkan, who always wore the brimmed hat, immediately appeared at the door, as if he had been hiding in the corner of the door all along, ready to respond.

"By my order, in the name of the Queen Regent and myself, order all the armies of Montina, Cosenza, Agri, and Billy Silly to prepare for battle, and order the captain of the marching army, Ofleiil, to prepare for war at once, and to order the dispatch of the courtier's envoys to Taranto."

The flurry of orders dazzled Schelle, but fortunately he had mastered some of the habits of the Earl during this time, and the advantage that he was more suitable as a guard officer than Busako was that he was more clever than Bussacco.

The queen looked a little bad, her eyes were red, and her body was still trembling slightly from anger and sadness, which was more terrible in the eyes of Sher than the presence of an assassin.

The guard was worried that the queen at this time estimated that he would not hesitate to let the count declare war on the pope, and as for what to do next to anger the lady Lucrezia, probably the lord would not think about it for the time being.

So Sher didn't even think about turning around and leaving, he wanted to convey these orders as soon as possible.

"My Montina army and your grenadiers can be the main force in this battle, as for the army of the territory of Cosenza and the reserves of Agri can assist them, as for the garrison of Billyselly they will not need them this time, in addition we need enough ships, it was easy to do in Naples before, and now we have to turn to Taranto, I hope they are not so frightened by the Ottomans that they dare not even go out to sea." Alexander had already begun to plan the concrete steps, until Josha suddenly pressed his right hand, which was scribbling down these thoughts on a piece of paper.

"Am I being too headstrong?" Jisha asked in a low voice, "He is indeed my uncle, I have been with him even longer than I have been with my father, I even think I am his daughter, but you are not, you are just ......"

"Have you forgotten that he's also my uncle?" Alexander withdrew his hand slightly, looking at the clear eyes of the sha, the calm expression of the face, "Listen, as you said, we have to save him because we owe it to him, he has done a lot for us, no matter what his purpose is, but he went to Sicily this time for us, so this is what we should do for him." ”

Josha nodded slightly, then she sat down and began to really think about it, then she turned to look at Alexander, "Do you think this is the right time to wage war on Sicily?" ”

Hearing this question, Alexander looked at her, and his eyes fell on a slightly inquiring look, and she looked exactly like a queen who was consulting ministers for a major state policy, rather than a young girl who was agitated by the news that her relatives had been arrested.

"Many people still fantasize about getting Aragonese support, or taking advantage of the opportunity to get in touch with the Aragonese, as they did a few years ago, and I can even imagine that in Billy Shelly there would have been Ferdinand who would have taken refuge in Aragone." Alexander looked at Ash, "We can't get along with Aragorn, so it's better to tear off this disguise as soon as possible." It is not a good excuse to use the Count as a reason. ”

Jisha nodded slightly, then looked at Alexander for a moment before asking, "Is there any other reason besides these?" ”

Josha's question made Alexander think for a moment, and then smiled lightly: "Actually, this is what the French want to see, they want us to have a conflict with the Aragonese, and Charlon has hinted before that they hope that we can find some trouble for the Aragonese by infiltrating Sicily." ”

"I see." Jisha nodded, as if she had received a satisfactory answer.

Because Modillo, Count of Naples, was captured, the regent of Naples, Kosenza, who was already in exile in Billy Silly, decided to send troops to Sicily!

As soon as the news broke, it shook everyone.

Many people thought the regent was crazy.

In terms of the strength of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Naples was originally inferior to Sicily, not to mention that Sicily still had the powerful backing of the Kingdom of Aragon behind it, how could Ferdinand of Aragon tolerate such a thing.

But the most important thing is that Napoli, which has now been reduced to exile, still expects to get the support of Aragon, a brother of the same clan, to restore the country, but Jisha actually wants to turn around and declare war with Sicily, which cannot but make everyone who hears about this think that the regent may have really lost her mind.

When it was suggested that her husband was said to have fallen into madness, many people suddenly thought that perhaps the royal family of Naples was cursed.

So did the Neapolitan court in exile still have the ability to wage war against Sicily at such a time?

The main force of the Montina Hunting Guards Regiment of 1,500 Balkans and the 1st Cosenza Grenadier Company of 400 men were able to mobilize less than 1,000 men but quite strong in the Kosenza Territory Army, and almost the same number of Agri Territory Reserve Army.

When someone really calculated carefully, they were surprised to find that the Neapolitans were able to organize an army of about 3,700 people.

Although this number is less than half of the French invasion of Naples, it is enough to make many people feel incredible.

Among these people was the commander of the French army in Naples, Charlon.

Although he never underestimated Alexander's strength, when he came to this conclusion after careful calculation, he still made Sharron look at the numbers on the paper for a moment.

Did you ignore the brother and sister too much?

Sharron asked to himself, then smiled and shook his head.

He has never underestimated Alexander, but this does not mean that he will be able to fully grasp all the movements of the other party, but now the choice of the brother and sister makes Charlen very happy.

Whether or not the Aragonese intervened in Naples, Charlon was keen to see the conflict between the two Sicilies, for which he had previously hinted to Alexander through Normezi.

Alexander did not respond at the time, which made Scharlen feel that his strategy of provoking the Two Sicilies had failed.

It's just that no one thought that the Count of Mordillo would suddenly go to Sicily, and the Sicilian governor Flomenza actually arrested him.

"God is also protecting France and its kings." Charlen made a cross on his chest to express his exclamation at the near-miraculous result of this development, and then he thought for a moment to call the servant to call in Normezi.

"I need your favor, Earl," said Scharlen to Normezie, "and I will soon assemble a fleet of close ships, which can carry about 4,000 to 4,500 men." ”

Seeing the knowing gaze cast by Normezi, Charlen nodded: "You guessed right, Earl, I think our Neapolitan friend needs help. ”